Three people, two women and a man, have been confirmed dead after a three-storey building that was being used as a church collapsed on worshippers in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, on Sunday.
Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak said 20 others, most of them women and children, had been rescued and were being treated in various hospitals.
There was “90-95% certainty that we no longer (have) any persons (trapped),” he added.
Emergency teams worked through the night under floodlights searching for victims inside the structure’s remains.
The cause of the collapse, which happened after heavy rain, is unknown, with the interior minister saying investigations are underway.
The building itself, which was part of a school in Accra’s New Town area, was being used despite lying uncompleted for several years, according to locals.
Read Also:
- Ghana demands compensation for slavery in landmark UN vote
- Akwa Ibom rescues, repatriates 44 Ghanaian trafficking victims as crackdown on human trafficking intensifies
- Ghanaian immigration arrest 93 Nigerians, rescue 73 others in major anti-fraud operation
“What we can say is that there was a total of 23 people… It’s a very sad day for all of us,” Mohammed-Mubarak said.
Earlier reports had initially confirmed two deaths and 14 rescued, but the minister said the latest figures of 20 rescued had been cross-checked with various sources, including the ambulance services.
He acknowledged that it had been difficult to determine how many people had been in the building at the time of its collapse, and commended emergency responders for their quick response and rescue efforts through the night.
The national fire service has posted images on X of workers at the site as an agitated crowd milled around the scene.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing trapped victims calling for help under the rubble, describing the incomplete building as poorly constructed with no major maintenance since construction started.
“Everybody in the community knows the building is very weak, yet they allowed services and activities inside,” an eyewitness said.
Operations to check for any more worshippers are continuing, and the debris is being cleared.
The incident reminds people of the 2012 collapse of a multi-storey shopping centre that was attributed to poor construction.
